Military Supervisor Pays $5,500 Fine to Settle Ethics Complaint

HARTFORD — A fired Military Department supervisor accused of using state gasoline for personal use, selling scrap metal from a state facility and directing subordinates to haul state-owned firewood to his house, has paid $5,500 to settle a complaint brought by the Office of State Ethics.

James E. Liss, who admitted the allegations but said he did not believe they violated state ethics rules, agreed to the fine to avoid a public hearing before the Citizens' Ethics Advisory Board that was set to begin Thursday. He previously paid the state $654.50, representing the amount he received for selling the scrap metal to a recycler.

Liss, who served as building superintendent at Camp Hartell in Windsor Locks, was also accused of inflating the number of overtime hours he worked and falsifying time sheets to claim he worked on days he was absent. Those missing days were so frequent, they came to be known at Camp Hartell as "Jimmy Days." The time-card allegations, however, were not mentioned in the stipulated settlement with the ethics board.

Liss, 61, said he believed he was allowed to use his state-owned vehicle and state gasoline for personal use because he was perpetually on call for emergencies at Camp Hartell, according to the settlement. He also said he believed the state Military Department had a policy allowing employees to take firewood for personal use, and said he thought the scrap metal had been abandoned by a contractor and was fair game.

In addition to losing his job, Liss was also arrested in September and was later granted accelerated rehabilitation to resolve the criminal charges. He is currently under court supervision.

Liss earned $76,000 in his last full fiscal year with the state, before he was fired in January 2014. He receives a state pension of $53,490 a year.